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The Year In Review

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Guest Idioteque

Cassettes! My voice has finally been heard!

 

This is the first time in a long time that I've actually overcome some mental problems I've been struggling with for years & it's all thanks to you. I dug deep into the MG archives & found a really intimate & raw blog you wrote about your incident at your parents house that lead to Hospital Music. You mentioned things you would do in your early 20's that I've been experiencing the past 2 years like not eating, days of insomnia & other things that I won't type out here. But it made me search for answers instead of accepting this repetitive ground hog day life I've been living, so again thank you.

 

I'm hoping 2016 will be full of Matthew Good events we can all enjoy and I fully support everything you just said. I'd pay $100 a night to see you live, especially to hear you tell stories. You've reached that "Foo Fighters" peak in your career where a 30 song setlist/3 hours long is the only way to make everyone satisfied. So many hidden gems in your discography that deserve to be played again.

 

2 questions if you end up reading this:

 

Please tell me you did not take your family to Disneyland without seeing the new Star Wars! I'd imagine there would be spoilers everywhere.

 

and

 

If you've been sneaking a peak in The Bored for the past month you'd know there's been some big discussions on you doing another live album or (my favorite) a live dvd/Documentary.

 

Besides the money it would take to make them, do live cds/dvds interest you? You've surprisingly only had 1 live album in your entire career. Something like a biography interests me personally because you have a life worth hearing, especially with the hundreds of stories you have & the knowledge.

 

Is it a long shot? Yeah. But 2 years ago I never thought I'd get Hospital Music & Underdogs on vinyl lol. Dreams do come true people!

 

Anyways, I hope you & your family have a great new years Matt! It would be an honor to meet you again.

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I've always liked artists who play a show focused on a record with maybe a few other songs to fill time if need be. 

If you do decide to do the acoustic tour again I'd be willing to pay $100+, I think the acoustic massey hall event is my favourite show of all time. Cheers to 2016.

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I have to ask (and this question is open to anyone who wants to give feedback) and I realize it's controversial. I, for one would pay top dollar to see a show in a small venue and I'm sure Matthew Good would have no problem selling out every show even in the $100-$150 price range.

 

I would definitely pay top dollar to see Beautiful Midnight in its entirety. I don't understand what length of the show has to do with ticket price. If a band had to come to Toronto (for example) to play, what does it matter if they play 2 hours for $50 or 3 hours for $50? When I think back to that tour in Philadelphia, the show lasted about 1 hour with an encore..maybe and 1 and 10 max but that'd be pushing it. If you're going to drag all your band members and gear across the states, do the sound check, pay all the travel expenses, why not go big and play a full length show?

 

I remember asking Matthew Good this question on his full band American tour in 2010 when his shows were like 10-11 songs with an encore. I was told (in a nicer manner obviously) that tickets were only like $20 and that longer shows demand a higher ticket price. I dunno...I don't get it. I'm a huge Drive-By Truckers fan, although I don't know how big they are in Canada, but they sell well in the states and are one of the best rock bands of the last 20 years. Tickets range $20-$30 and you'll get some shows that are 2 hours and some are 3 hours and 15 minutes...ticket prices did not effect the length of the show.

 

To each their own I guess. I would love to see longer shows but if the prices were escalated because they were going to play "longer" and not because it was an intimate show, I would probably feel like the artist was only playing longer for the money, not because they wanted to.

 

Anyway, not trying to ruffle feathers, just putting it out there.

Edited by GuitarmanMCS
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Thanks so much for this tour experience. I met a lot of cool people, the band included, and truly had the time of my life. 2015 had been a pretty spectacularly horrible year all in all, so it was nice to leave it in the dust riding the high of this tour.

 

All the best to you and yours,

 

I look forward to whatever comes next.

 

(And I will fully jump on board Team Play Beautiful Midnight in its Entirety and also Team Second Live Album and also Team live DVD.)

Also, I will say Zaphod's in Ottawa was probably my favourite Ottawa show, so if you did decide to do smaller venues higher prices I'm in. That show was free, and was fantastic, though I totally would pay for a similar experience.

 

Should you keep the larger Ottawa venue on the tour, I have some suggestions to oust the Not-So-Pleasant-to-Work-With NAC. The capacity isn't quite the same...so it might be a 2 show stop? But there is Centerpointe Theatre or Shenkman Arts. As well, Algonquin Commons Theatre. Or if you go the stadium route, TD Place is a little more reasonable than Canadian Tire Centre which is definitely full stadium status. Pretty sure Centerpointe and Algonquin Commons are about 1000, maybe a little more for Centerpointe. Just a thought.

 

The NAC acoustics are fantastic, but the venue...kinda douchey. #unionbuilding

Edited by emmit643
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If Matt is to read this or anyone else feel free to pm me in private but I would be willing to possibly fund a show for Matt to play in Pittsburgh.  I know more venue's have opened since he was last here for the acoustic show and I would be willing to personally cover any losses Matt and the band would not make from tickets/merch etc.   I think once again if promoted properly we could get people from Buffalo/Cleveland to come and make it something special.  Hearing Beautiful Midnight or any of the albums in their entirety live would be worth the price to me.  I know people on the bored are from the US near Buffalo/Pittsburgh/Philly.  Perhaps worst case scenario we do a go fund me if need be to get raise funds and get one big show here in the US. 

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Guest Idioteque

I'll throw my 2 cents in since I have talked to Matt about this & tons of other musicians about this.

Economics basically, you don't want to drag everything you have as a musician half way across a Country to break-even or god forbid go into debt, there has to be some insurances & one of those is making your "nut" with ticket sales. Leaving your house knowing you sold out a few $120 shows is more comforting than $20 shows, because then you can push venue curfews which does play a huge part in all of this surprisingly. I've seen bands known for 2 hour setlists get cut off at 1 hour just because of the specific venue (Modest Mouse/Silversun Pickups) etc. The musician can opt to not have opening acts & play earlier but then that brings up the question would it be worth the Artist's time? More money, then yes. I don't find that greedy at all depending on the Artist & if they've earned the right to even charge 3 digits per ticket, or if people would even pay that much.
With Matthew Good 100%. 

If you've ever seen a band timesheet that looks like:
Load In-8am
Soundcheck-2pm
Interviews-4pm
VIP-5pm
Doors-6pm
Band on-8pm
Curfew-10pm

Just something like that, for an entire tour, everyday. Because if you stay longer in one city & late to the next city you're basically burning money at that point.

I can understand wanting an incentive to change that up & play longer. Because as fans we don't know the backstage stuff, we see an artist walk on stage for an hour & half, not the artist that's been awake since 9am doing press. Every second a Band/Artist is in a city it is costing them money, it is extremely easy to lose money playing concerts because the +22 hours that's not spent on stage there's still a tour bus chugging gas & electricity, roadies & band members that get paid. Venues that get a % of the income that can restrict an artist & their set times. 

I used to be like "Well if you're in the city anyways why not just play longer" until I got to meet some really great bands who explained everything I just did to you, you have to sympathize, they are leaving their families to do what they love, so meeting them half way by showing appreciation in the form of $$$, doesn't hurt. Because at the end of the day you are paying for their time, the bigger the name the more expensive their time gets. I'm talking major bands obviously. 

Here's a quote from Dave Grohl.

 

 

“You don’t want one of those little hour and a half-long shows do you?,” Grohl asked. “You don’t want that shit. All of those new bands that play those little two-hour concerts, you don’t want that shit. Two hours and 15, I don’t think is enough. Two and a half hours, does that sound okay? That’s not enough is it?”

Grohl went onto explain that after being a band for 20 years you amass enough songs to keep on trucking. “We have a lot of f–king songs,” he said. “And then add my big mouth on top of that, and we’re going to be here all night.”

That's awesome, when you're Dave Grohl in the Foo Fighters knowing you're guaranteed sold out arenas. Let's just go over HIS ticket prices:
 

Ticket type Price A-Reserve $199.00 General Admission (Standing) $158.62 B-Reserve $158.62 C-Reserve $125.32

 


Anybody would be playing & bragging about 3 hour shows with those prices, because they financially can do it.  

It sucks that at the end of the day it's kind of about the money but that's life, they need to eat & feed too. People in general take music for granted & with the declining sales of CD's & other avenues bands look for to make money. One of the worst arguments I've heard from Piracy supporters is "Well bands make money off touring & merchandise sales anyways" which is true, but one other awesome door some popular bands get to open is playing for longer & making more money while doing it. 

I can see where it's over-used by some & downright abused by others, but the concept can be perfected by a few if they equal a concert experience that values the price of the ticket. Roger Waters ain't dragging The Wall around the world for no $20.



I totally get where you're coming from though, as somebody who goes to hundreds of concerts & wants to be a musician too, the very thought of travelling across the world & playing for hours making no money excites me, because I love music (I've accepted I'll probably be homeless by 30 lol). But at the cost of doing what I love I would need to make money to survive. That's the gross part about all of this because at the of the day economics rules everything, especially for somebody like Matt in his 40's with a family, employees, band members etc. 

 

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Guest Idioteque

Unrelated but do you get alot of Mark Kozelek where you live?
Sun Kil Moon played their first Vancouver show last year (Which I missed because I suck). 

I wish he would come back. :(

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Thanks for the post Matt Good! I enjoyed the new album very much, but was sad to not be able to attend any of the shows on the tour. I had planned to, but the girlfriend got laid off and I decided it wouldn't be a good time to spend a lot of money on a trip to Toronto - even if I went by myself. Hopefully I'll make the next tour, or better yet one of those hypothetical shows you discussed in your post. You're always welcome to come to NYC and do a one off show again of course! Maybe next time not at the oddity that is Joe's Pub (where you said you felt like a stripper on stage!).

 

I'm particularly excited about the prospect of you playing some more of the older/obscure tracks from the past. I know that has been easier to do with the acoustic tours over the last few years (stuff like Fine Art and Fated and Minimum Safe Distance making it into setlists), but to hear other stuff in full band again would be great.

 

Anyway thanks for the music. I've been listening since 2000 when I was 15 years old. Your music has been a big part of my life, has influenced my own original music, and has helped me through many tough times. I only hope you keep making more awesome music in the years to come.

 

And by more awesome music I mean please just record 'Something Like A Storm' and 'Bad Pennies' and throw them on the most badass EP ever.

 

- Joe S

NYC

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Matt, appreciate the year summation. Glad to hear you enjoyed the tour as much as we enjoyed watching it. Ive never seen one of your tours get so much love around here and it speaks volumes of the material played and the great skill and commitment of the band.

 

Alaska hwy is something special!

 

As for the show ideas. I love both concepts. The intimate solo shows are cool. Im assuming ticket prices of $100 per show. So $500 for all five shows? Thats alot of money, but id be there. When I get into bands the first thing I always think is "wouldn't it be awesome to hear my favourite album live" and "it'd be awesome to see these guys in a small intimate setting" so hearing you propose both. I am downright ecstatic. Thanks for the vinyl albums and for giving me some incredible live shows to look forward to in 2016. All the best in the New Year Matt and band

Edited by adam_777
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I would gladly pay $100+ to see Beautiful Midnight in its entirety.

 

This year I’ve given a lot of thought to various ideas - such as performing Beautiful Midnight in its entirety one night and new material or another record the next. I’ve also given some thought to the idea of doing a small residence acoustic tour. My friend Jeff came up with the idea. Basically it would be max 100 people, 5 nights in a major city, and during each show I would construct it so that I went through my entire career, playing music while at the same time telling the story of the last 20+ years. I’ll not lie, tickets would exceed $100 for those shows, because anything less would make it financially irresponsible.

 

I love the idea of a small residence tour. I always dreamed of going to something like this. When Matt held a concert at his condo before he moved out, I always wished I could have gone to something like that. If I lived in Vancouver at the time, I would have jumped at the chance to go. I think Justin Nozuka had small residence concerts in the past. I've been intrigued and interested in this concert format ever since.


As for the show ideas. I love both concepts. The intimate solo shows are cool. Im assuming ticket prices of $100 per show. So $500 for all five shows? Thats alot of money, but id be there.

 

Me too probably. $500 is a lot of money, but if all the shows were connected in a sequential order it would probably be worth it. If Matt told lots of stories and tidbits of his journey during the last 20+ years, that would be even more awesome.That would definitely be worth the price of admission. Doing it in someone's living room would be the perfect place for it.

Edited by girl
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Here are a couple of pictures of what Justin Nozuka's home concert shows look like:

 

https://www.facebook.com/justinnozuka/photos/a.316446684744.189871.20400019744/10154168264439745/?type=3

 

https://www.facebook.com/justinnozuka/photos/a.316446684744.189871.20400019744/10154152923684745/?type=3&permPage=1

 

It would be great if Matt were able to do home concert shows like this. Just thinking about the prospect makes me a little excited.

Edited by girl
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Guest Idioteque

It would probably never happen now since Matt's life is more private, he has kids & a wife not to mention dozens of animals, that's even if he still lives in Rivendell. But an album release party or a movie screening of some sort *wink wink* would be pretty awesome. 

There's a hilarious ET Canada Special about his home & he's always proud to mention it in interviews. But I want a full blown cribs episode where he does a tour of the inside because I always see photos of guitars & record plaques, I read somewhere that he has a "Talk Talk" one which I really really wanna see. Also his mini-recording studio, I've been building my own recently. Seeing your setup would be the best Christmas present ever, Matt. ;)

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I remember when Finboy bought the Tonemaster from you and my friend and I went to pick it up. We still talk about how beautiful that property is.

We actually sold that house some time ago and just live in a very normal suburban house in a very normal suburban neighbourhood. It was way too much work and we found we spent less time with our kids because of it and that's something that you can't do just because of a house.

And yes, a residence would mean at a venue, not my home!

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Thank you Matt for a great record and a great tour.

 

I'm looking forward to taking my kids back to Disney World again this year. It's pretty awesome to do with kids.

 

Also, I would definitely pay $100+ to see any of the shows that you've described.

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